Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Letter to the Editor - by Melina Bizera-Negrette

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 7:23pm


To Whom It May Concern,

After reading Mr. Kelly’s article in which he mentions that all Uruguay has going for them is “plane-crash-related cannibalism”, I opted to wait awhile before responding. I was going to let it be, but found myself unable to do so.

As a Uruguayan-Canadian, it angers me to hear such ignorance and down-right racism. Making light of a tragic event that marked the lives of many, many people is no laughing matter and should not be taken as lightly as he has taken it. The Miracle of the Andes, as it is more commonly known, was a tale of survival, courage, perseverance, hope, desperation and faith. All contradictory terms, granted, but that is the reason why it was and is considered a miracle.

For these reasons, it should not and does not deserve to be belittled by ANYONE, especially an ignorant, misinformed sports journalist.

I am not quite sure where Mr. Kelly obtained his information from. I dare not think he simply watched ALIVE and formed his own loose opinions based on a badly created Hollywood movie…or maybe he just simply pulled it out of his behind.

Furthermore, implying that Uruguay is an underdeveloped country is ridiculous. Perhaps a little geography lesson is needed. Had Mr. Kelly simply googled “URUGUAY” he would have come across the following description:

The economy is largely based on agriculture (making up 10% of GDP and the most substantial export) and the state sector. According to Transparency International, Uruguay is rated as the least corrupt country in Latin America (along with Chile),[6] with its political and labour conditions being among the freest on the continent.[1]

Uruguay is one of the most economically developed countries in South America, with a high GDP per capita and the 50th highest quality of life in the world. In 2007, it became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex and different-sex civil unions at a national level.[7]

It would have been that simple, and that’s only Wikipedia. Surely, he could have managed that?

I firmly believe Mr. Kelly has an apology to make to the Uruguayan-Canadian community.

I would recommend Mr. Kelly visits the following link in order to better understand the significance of the words he used to complete a sports article.

http://www.viven.com.uy/571/Eng/default.asp

I thank you for your time and look forward to an apology and a retraction.



Kind regards,



Melina Bizera-Negrette

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